A Wolf in Huntsman's Clothing
by Seriously Facetious
Summary: Before he was the Sheriff, before he was the Huntsman, he was an orphaned child adopted by a child of the moon and her pack. He once had a name. He once had a family.


Once upon a time, they had not been hunted by anyone or anything. Some say, they had even been worshiped. Most certainly, they had been feared. Of course, those were things spoken of in stories and who could be certain what was fact or fiction. The history of the Children of the Moon, or the Tuathe de Gealach in the old tongue, had as much myth woven into it as fact. Although, Lia did know that they had been feared because that was still true. Man hunted for only two reasons – hunger and fear. As far as she knew, humans did not eat wolf meat so they must fear them instead. Andra said humans wore their pelts, but their mother had silenced her before she could scare Lia further. However, the damage had already been done. Lia had dreamt that night of a man wearing her fur and had woken up the pack with her screaming.

Truthfully, Lia had never seen a human but knew they looked similar enough. She knew Andra hadn't either. The pack lived too deep in the woods for most humans to venture and never stayed in one place too long for fear of hunters. Despite the occasional taunting from her older sibling, Lia rarely thought of humans and the danger they presented. The alpha Fen and the other wolves guarded the pups carefully against any indication that their worlds were not as safe as they appeared and did so successfully. She had no idea how quickly that would change. None of the wolves did…except for perhaps Sybel, but the near-ancient wolf most always kept the secrets of fate to herself.

On a morning like all mornings, Lia practically pranced along side her mother like a young fawn, occasionally darting off to bother one of the other pack members before dutifully returning to Solana's side. Andra had long since deemed herself too mature to play games with Lia on their long walks so the youngest sister was left to her own devices. She'd once asked Solana for a new playmate, but her mother had only sighed sadly to these requests. Such things were no longer possible since human's had taken the girls' father, but this was not appropriate to share with a child. Sol did feel sympathy for her daughter. There were other packs with younger wolves, but they did not cross paths often so Lia had very few opportunities to play with someone other than her sister who was indeed growing too old for childhood games.

Fortunately, one of the younger women of the pack had always been fond of Lia and was more than happy to keep the pup entertained. Luppa's mate had died in the same hunter attack that killed Solana's mate. Tragedy struck soon after when her unborn child went to the Great Mother before it could even take its first breath. She'd been utterly devastated and the pack feared she too would go to the Great Mother, but Luppa had overcome her grief to a certain extent. She never laughed anymore, but Lia could manage to elicit a ghost of a smile from time to time. The pup walked alongside Luppa now having abandoned her mother's side in search of some form of amusement, chattering about nothing and everything all at once.

Ahead of them, Fen and his oldest son Gunar lead the pack, discussing matters too important for the ears of children. Fen's mate, Eyr, kept close to Sybel, but walked in silence. Neither wolf had much patience for Lia so she tended to avoid them. Mimir and Fen's second son, Oren, took their role of flanking the pack seriously, even on a calm morning with no danger present. Conn appeared more relaxed but nothing ever seemed to bother him much. More importantly, he always had a good story to tell or slight of hand trick to amuse Lia. Conn's mate, Kiya, strolled alongside Mimir's mate, Noka, as always chatting away happily about this or that. She couldn't understand why anyone would ever want to hunt her pack. Lia could only assume that humans were heartless creatures. They'd killed her father and Luppa's mate for no reason. Why would they do that? She tried not to think about that question too often. Solana near cried the one time Lia was foolish enough to ask. Lia never asked again.

A low growl from the front of the pack signaled the rest to stop. For a moment, Lia couldn't tell why but then the scent of blood saturated the air. It wasn't animal blood nor was it wolf. It was different than any smell she'd encountered. They all stood rigidly, waiting for Fen's order. Without having to ask, Lia knew the scent had to be human. Lia began to quiver in fear and couldn't stop herself. Luppa slipped a hand into her little one and squeezed tight. Seconds seemed like hours as they waited in utter silence. Lia wasn't sure what they were waiting for, but she waited all the same.

"The blood isn't fresh, most likely from last night," Fen's normally booming voice was lowered to a rumble. "Conn. Mimir. Scout it out. Don't get too close." The two wolves nodded in unison and disappeared into the woods without making a sound. Humans never traveled this deep into the woods. It was concerning and not something Fen could ignore. With the stillness broken, Solana rushed to Lia's side and Andra joined them. Even with her family surrounding her, Lia still felt fear. Noka and Kiya huddled close, anxiously waiting for their mates to return and bracing for the worst. Their wait would not be long. Both wolves returned wearing grim expressions, and Conn carried a bundle in his arms.

"A family of gypsies from the looks of it. No jewelry or coin on them," Conn spoke slowly, hinting that their lives had been lost in the pursuit of thievery from other humans. "No sign of any other humans. None of them were spared except this one." He revealed the bundle to be a child carefully swaddled in the colorful blanket. "I couldn't leave him."

Mimir snorted, "I told him to, Fen. Wouldn't listen to me."

Fen stared at the child with an unreadable expression. His better judgment told him to leave the child as Mimir suggested, but his compassion sided with Conn. This was not a decision he could make so he looked to Sybel who was already gliding over to Conn.

The silver haired wolf motioned for Conn to hand the baby over to her. She peered down into the child's face. The babe cooed up at her as if he knew his fate decided on her kindness. "Luppa will raise him. It is what the Great Mother wills."

"…what?" Luppa sputtered out, barely managing to stomach the idea of having to raise a human child. The Great Mother could not be so cruel. "I…why me?"

"It is not for you to question, but if you find the task unbearable, Conn can return the child to his family. The choice is yours."

Luppa furrowed her brow in contemplation but knew she could not condemn the child to certain death. As if she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders, Luppa walked slowly to collect the child from Sybel. Her wary expression softened as she cradled him closer and the other wolves moved in to examine the new addition to the pack. Oren and Mimir lingered in the back, clearly unhappy with the decision, but they would not go against Sybel for it was widely believed the Great Mother favored her above all others.

"We need to keep moving," Fen reminded his pack and the cluster surrounding Luppa dispelled until only Lia was still besides her. They continued on as if nothing had happened albeit an air of uncertainty had settled over the pack. Even Fen seemed uncomfortable and on edge. The only wolves who seemed unfazed were Sybel and Lia.

"What are you going to call him?" Lia chirped, all her previous fear had been replaced with an immense curiosity. The little human was not as scary as she thought he would be. If they were truly awful, Sybel would not have let this one into their pack, or maybe this one was just special.

Luppa tilted her head, gently rocking the baby who'd fallen into a restful sleep, "I'm not sure."

"Well, he needs a name. Everybody needs a name," Lia asserted boldly causing Luppa to smile ever so slightly.

"What about Faolan?" Luppa suggested, looking away from the child to see if Lia approved.

Lia pursed her lips in deep contemplation of the name then nodded her head. "Faolan. I like it. Can I hold him?" She'd never seen a baby up close before and couldn't resist asking. Albeit a little hesitant, Luppa carefully placed the sleeping Faolan into Lia's arms. He looked so harmless, so vulnerable. His eyes fluttered open, but he didn't make a peep or seem unhappy at being woken up. Instead, he smiled, and Lia couldn't help but smile back. "Welcome to the pack, little wolf."


End file.
